wallace



2 Sheets-She; 1.

(No Model.)

J. B. WALLACE.

' Ggs METER.

1 No; 502,388. Patented Augfl, 1893.

dyfi INVENTOR B W/ TNESSES A TTOHNE Y.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets.-Sheet 2.

' J. B. WALLACE.

GAS METER; No. 502,388. Patented'Aug. 1, 1893.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JACOB BENNETT VVALLAOE, OFERIE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE METRIC METAL COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

GAS-METER.-

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 502,388, dated August 1, 1893.

Application filed November 19, 1892. Serial No. 452,520. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JACOB BENNETT WAL- LACE, a citizen of theUnited States, residing at lrie, in the county of Erie and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Gas-Meters; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to gas-meters, and particularly to that type of gas-meters, wherein the passage of gas is regulated by two horizontally acting slide valves that are moved by a vertical crank shaft that is rotated by the action of the bellows; such meters being ordinarily made with a tin case and are commonly called tin meters.

My invention consists in certain improvements in the construction of the said crank shaft and the means for communicating motion therefrom to the horizontal acting slide valves, as will be hereinafter fully set forth 2 5 and pointed out in the claims.

The type of meter to which my invention relates being common and well known, I have only shown such parts thereof in the accompanyingdrawings as are necessary to illustrate my improvements, as follows:

Figure l is a horizontal section through the valve-chamber, and shows a plan view of the valves and means for moving the same. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of one of the valves and its connections, and the crank-shaft. This view may be assumed to be taken from the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an elevation view of the crank-shaft, D, and shows the crank arm, E, in vertical section, the scale being enlarged.

A marks the valve chamber; a, the passage, through which gas is admitted to the chamber, A; B B, the valves; B B, the valve stems; b b, the valve stem guides; O O, the connecting rods; D, the crank shaft; E, the lower crank arm, and F, the pivot post of the crank shaft.

Other letters will be referred to in proper place herein.

IIeretofore the vertical crank-shaft has been made of an integral casting, including the faced at one chucking.

shaft and the entire lower crank, and then finished so as to properly fit up the bearings. In my construction the shaft, D, is made of a metal just malleable enough to stand bending, preferably bronze, and one of the lower crank arms, (1, is formed by bending the lower end of said shaft, as clearly shown in the drawings. The lower of the two crank arms, E, and the wrist, e, are made of one casting, 6a the wrist e, being a sleeve, the opening in which is continued through the arm, E, of uniform diameter and forms a straight walled socket, 6 which receives the lower end, D, of the bent shaft, D. The process of making my construction is as follows: The casting E, has the socket, e bored out, and the wrist, c, milled off and The shaft, D, and the end, D, are turned up so as to be parallel and of the desired eccentricity, the end, D, being of the same diameter as the socket, e The end, D, is then inserted into the socket, c and soldered fast. The crank is then chucked by the shaft, D, and the socket, e, bored out. This makes the socket, e, centered and parallel with the shaft, D and consequently parallel with the wrist, 6. This insures the smooth running of the crank. The essential feature of this construction is its cheapness. Under the old method, where the crank was made of one piece, it was necessary to turn and caliper the wrist. In a piece so delicate as this, to secure accuracy required the highest degree of skill, and at best was a slow, painstaking operation. It will be seen in my construction, that it is possible to mill all the parts. This permits of faster work, insures absolute accuracy and requires much less skill than by the old method. If desired, the 0 part, E, with sleeve, e, may be made of a metal specially desirable for bearings, and thereby the bearing at the pivot, e, and at the wrist, 6, will be of special metal, while the shaft, D, will be of other metal.

To obtain the best results, it is desirable that the connecting rods, (J, connect with the valve stems between the guides, b, and the valves, and that the connecting pins, 1), be as short as possible, and that the wrist, e, be in the same horizontal plane, or as nearly as possible, with the pins, b. To effect this, it

is necessary for the connecting rods to avoid the valve stem guides, b, and this has been sometimes effected by making the connecting rods in the form of a yoke that extends around the guide on each side thereof. Such a construction necessitates using fully one third more metal than is required by my construction, which consists in deflecting the rods, 0, at a, over the guides. This saving of metal is advantageous as it is desirable that the parts he as light as possible, so that the device may be as easy running as possible.

The connecting rods are preferably made of Babbitt metal and are formed in molds, and when formed have an eye at each end for connecting with the wrist, e, and pins Z). The connection with the wrist, e, is made by thrusting the shaft, D, through the eyes of the rods, and when in place they are retained by a pin, (1.

What I claim as new is 1. In the valve moving crank-shaft of a gasmeter of the class herein named, the combination of the shaft, D, having the curved part, d, forming one of the crank-arms, formed of a malleable metallic rod, and the cast metal part, E, forming the other crank arm, and having as part thereof the sleeve, 2, forming the wrist of the crank, and a socket for the lower end of the curved shaft, D.

2. In a gas-meter of the class herein named, the combination of the valves, 13, having straight valve stems, B, carried in guides, 19, and with wrist pins, 1), thereon, the valve moving crank-shaft consisting of the shaft, D, having the curved portion, d, forming one of the crank arms and the casting, E, having the sleeve, 6, forming the wrist of the crank and the other crank-arm, and the connecting rods, 0, connecting the said wrist, c, with the wrist pins, 1), on the valve stems, B, and having the upward deflections, c, arching over the guides, 17, that are between the valves and the said crank-shaft.

In testimony whereof Iaffix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

J. BENNETT WVALLAOE. Witnesses:

H. O. LORD, WM. MARKS, Jr, 

